Deputies: Kidnapping victim was found beaten, bound with a gash on his head

Deputies: Kidnapping victim was found beaten, bound with a gash on his head

Charges filed against man with connections to Mexican drug cartel

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Updated: 6:11 PM EDT Jul 28, 2017

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WEBVTT >> A KIDNAPPING VICTIM IS FOUNDALIVE AND NOW TWO PEOPLE ARECHARGED.INVESTIGATORS SAY THE CASE HASEVOLVED.INVESTIGATORS GAVE AN UPDATE ONTHE CASE.BILL O'NEIL IS STANDING BY.BILL: INVESTIGATORS CALL THIS ADRUG TRAFFICKING CASE.BOTH OF THE SUSPECTS ARE MEMBERSOF A MEXICAN DRUG CARTEL.THE VICTIM IS NO CONNECTION TODRUGS, LEAVING OPEN THEQUESTION, WHY WAS HE KIDNAPPED?THE KIDNAPPI VICTIM,20-YEAR-OLD ELIAN TRO GONZALESWAS FOUND BOUND AND BEATEN.--ALEJANDR GONZALES.>> HE HAD A SEVERE GASH.FOOTPRINTS WHERE HE WAS STOPPED.BILL THE SUSPECTS AREIDENTIFIED AS HECTOR LOPEZ ANDHIS GIRLFRIEND.HE IS CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPINGAND ARMED ROBBERY.INVESTIGATORS SAY THE20-YEAR-OLD IS A FUGITIVE WANTEDFOR KIDNAPPING AND DRUGTRAFFICKING.HIS BOND IS SET AT $.3 MILLION.SHE IS CHARGED WITH ACCESSORYBEFORE THE FACT.THE 19-YEAR-OLD HAS A 200 AND$50,000 BOND.INVESTIGATORS SAY THE KIDNAPPINGHAPPENED RIGHT ACROSS THE STREETFROM THE WALMART.THREE VICTIMS WERE ABDUCTED ATGUNPOINT.TWO WERE RELEASED, BUT NOT ALEXGONZAL.GONZALES IS, "COLLATERDAMAGE.">> WE CANNOT GO INTO DETAILS.THE SHERIFF ALLUDED TO HISINABILITY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.THAT IS TO MAKE SURE THISINVESTIGATION IS NOTCOMPROMISED.BILL SHERIFF JOHNSON SAYS THEINVESTIGATION IS ONGOING AND HEIS STILL LOOKING FOR TWO OF THE

Deputies: Kidnapping victim was found beaten, bound with a gash on his head

Charges have been announced against a Burlington man and his girlfriend in connection to a brutal kidnapping investigation in Alamance County.

Alamance County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a report of a kidnapping that happened along Mebane Oakes Road, in a driveway area across from the Walmart store near Interstate 40, at about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday night.

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Three victims, Alejandro Gonzales, 20, Roberto Sanchez, 27, and a 15-year-old boy, were reportedly taken at gunpoint by three men.

Investigators said the victims were traveling in a silver four-door 2004 Nissan Maxima driven by Gonzales.

The occupants in the car were approached by the suspects, who then removed all of the victims from their car at gunpoint.

Gonzales, who is from the Green Level community, was then placed into another vehicle while the other two victims were returned to their vehicle.

One of the suspects then reportedly drove the two victims (in their Nissan) to a location in Mebane, where they were released. The suspect then drove away in the Nissan, stealing the vehicle.

The Nissan was found early Thursday morning in Haw River.

Officers with the Haw River Police Department said they found car at about 5:45 a.m. parked on Holt Street in their city.

Gonzales was found bound and beaten in a mobile home in Lumberton at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Investigators said Gonzales had been held against his will since he was kidnapped, and had also lost consciousness after suffering a severe blow to his head.

Lopez is charged with four counts of kidnapping, three counts of robbery with firearms or other dangerous weapons, motor vehicle theft, trafficking cocaine and two counts of failure to appear in court.

The cocaine charges, one of the kidnapping charges, and the failure to appear charges are from previous cases in other jurisdictions, deputies said.

Lopez was taken to the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center and is being held on $1,352,000 bail.

Cardenas is charged with three counts of accessory before the fact of a felony (kidnapping and robbery). Her bail is set at $250,000.

Authorities said Lopez had, in fact, been a fugitive for about four years, and both suspects are involved with drug trafficking involving the Sinaloa Drug Cartel in Mexico.

Authorities said Gonzales is not involved in drug trafficking.

Deputies were assisted by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshall Service, Home Land Security, Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Alamance Narcotics Enforcement Team and the Haw River Police Department.

Other suspects and persons of interest are still being sought in connection to the case.